Interested in public policy, the DC budget, research and information to inform and improve the caliber of public policy discussions or advocacy? This is the place for you: information and intelligence that improves advocacy is the stock in trade of this blog.

"This event is not only a thank you to the community and a celebration of 40 years of art-making, but a launching off point for future innovations in building community through the arts," says Amy Moore, CHAW’s Director of Education and Programs. "It is a testament to the arts, not as a luxury or something optional, but as a lifestyle."

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

(UPDATED 12/27, 7:45am) Apologies for the delay in sharing information from the December 9, 16 and 23 issues of the DC Register. Please remember to check emergency and proposed notices for comment requirements and deadlines. This information is not included in the items below.

Final rules for administrative hearings: The Office of Administrative Hearings' December 9 final rules (Word, .doc) allow parties in OAH cases to file papers by email.

Final rules about supported employment certification: The Department of Mental Health issued final rules December 9 (Word, .doc) creating a new DCMR title to "create certification standards for Supported Employment Programs that offer supported employment services to individuals who receive services from the Department or Department-certified mental health providers."

Final rules from the Department of Health: DOH published final rules (Word, .doc) in the December 9 DCR to grandfather in individuals who were enrolled in doctoral programs prior to April 15, 2011. This allows these professionals to become licensed in the District of Columbia.

Public hearing on immigration bill: The Committee on the Judiciary (At-large CM Phil Mendelson, chair) is holding a hearing on B19-585, "Immigration Detainer Compliance Amendment Act of 2011" January 6 at 10:00 am. The public is encouraged to testify; details are in the December 23 revised notice (PDF).

Spending caps in place for balance of FY 2012: On December 1, Mayor Gray signed Mayor's Order 2011-188, Allocation of Spending (FY 2012) (PDF). This order restricts certain spending in FY 2012 (the fiscal year we are in). Limits include a freeze on vacancies except when funded by Federal funds and a freeze on out of town travel and training except that which is required for certification. Exceptions may be granted.

A senior administration official has said that the limits should not tie the hands of any DC agencies since this early-in-the-fiscal-year freeze is fairly commonplace in DC. Whether commonplace, the fact that programs may be left without staffing is significant. The same goes for any FTEs required for planning or evaluation. I'm curious about what agencies will not do or will not do well as a result.

It will be interesting to see if Mayor Gray rescinds the order with the December 22 release of the revenue estimate which, according to Michael Neibauer, will be $45 million higher than the early fall estimate.

FY 2013 capital budget development: The FY 2013 capital budget process is moving along as planned. OBP staff are on track to make decisions by mid-February as prescribed by the budget instructions.

Community feedback for the FY 2013 DCPS budget: DCPS reports an interest in having residents, parents, and other stakeholders play a "substantial" role in budget development. There are several ways to provide input; go to the budget feedback page and start commenting.

Updated revenue estimate: The CFO will formally release the December revenue estimate December 22. WBJ's Michael Neibauer reported December 21 that revenue in FY 2012 will be $45 million higher than projected in the early fall estimate but that out year revenue will decline. Look for the December estimate on the CFO's website.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

In what has become an annual rite of the holiday season, Ward 3 CM Mary Cheh presented her colleagues with her holiday gift in "the most anticipated move of the legislative session."
The public announcement of the gift says, in part:

"I consider this to be the crowning achievement of not only this legislative session, but also of my entire tenure on the Council," said Councilmember Cheh, Chair of the Committee on the Environment, Public Works, and Transportation. "I regret that this gift may overshadow other legislative matters of relative note that took place this week, such as the vote on the ethics bill."

Take a moment to read the release; it's a nice, light conclusion to what has turned out to be an incredibly tough year for the DC Council.

Every Friday from 10:00 am - Noon at Bread for the City's southeast location (1640 Good Hope Rd SE), the organization offers a Skillshare session. What's a Skillshare? It's an informal gathering of people to exchange practical skills for everyday life. Bread's Skillshare sessions will be related to technology and media.

Hands-on learning is an essential part of the sessions as is making participants comfortable. The sessions are free and no reservations are required. Direct questions to Zachari Curtis at (202) 587-0529.

Do you have a skill to share? Email your skill idea; put "My Skills" in the subject line.

The Lightbox Collaborative has shared on their blog a cool and useful tool for advocates and communicators: A 2012 editorial calendar.

I've added some DC- and issue-specific items and posted the DC 2012 editorial calendar here. If your organization has day, week or month celebrations or recognitions you hope others will rally around, please add them to the DC calendar. It's open to the public for editing.

If you follow me on Twitter you might have seen tweets about trying a ricotta cake. Since it turned out okay, I thought I would share the ricotta cake recipe. Note, I replaced the almond extract with one teaspoon of lemon rind and one teaspoon of lemon extract. I used a large springform pan; check the cake after about 70 minutes.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

I am going to tell you, here and now, how to find reports from the Office of the Inspector General in a focused, efficient manner, rather than by scrolling through the titles on their webpage, month by month.

Go to Google. (I haven’t used a search engine other than Google in about a skillion years, so I don’t know if this would work in any other engine.) Say you’re looking for OIG reports about the Department of Parks and Recreation. For your search terms, instead of (for example) "DC parks recreation," use "parks recreation site:oig.dc.gov" Then you can preview your results by scrolling down the right side of the text in your search results.

To summarize:

To find OIG reports, search in Google using "site:oig.dc.gov"

To find DC regulations and Mayor’s Orders, search using "site:dcregs.dc.gov"

There may be others. Keep this in mind.

To learn additional things from Becky, check out DC.Nerd; even better, subscribe.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Attend the December 15, 6:45 - 8:45 pm DC Federation of Citizens Associations session and find out! The meeting will take place at All Souls Memorial Episcopal Church (2300 Cathedral Ave NW; entrance off the church parking lot on Woodley Pl NW).

The federation has invited tax expert Regina Hopkins, Director of the DC Bar Pro Bono Program to explain important changes to the District’s Nonprofit Code that may affect member associations.

If you will be watching the Committee on the Environment, Public Works and Transportation (Ward 3 CM Mary Cheh, chair) December 13 at 10:30 am on various transportation bills, follow along using the witness list (Word, .doc). You can watch the hearing live online by going to the hearing page.

These handmade pins, made by yours truly, are approximately 1.5" square (except B which is ~1.5" x 2"). I've made them with quilt fabric, beads, tulle, and other goodies. They are for sale for $7 each (including postage).

If you would like to purchase a pin, email me your selection and I'll send an invoice. Email me Tuesday or Wednesday and the pin will go in the mail right away. Pins ordered on Thursday and Friday will be put in the mail late in the day.

NOTE: I have cats and dogs. If the person the pin is for is allergic to either, please do not order.

New, permanent director named to CFSA: Mayor Gray has appointed Brenda Walker to run Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA). This will be Donald's second time at the helm of this agency. Donald will start in early January 2012. For more information, read the press release.

It's YouTube for the Mayor: Mayor Gray is now on YouTube. That's right, in mid-November, EOM launched the mayor's YouTube channel . Content includes mayoral press conferences, agency policy statements, and current discussions on the future of District.

December 17 youth town hall: Mayor Gray will meet with youth December 17 from 12:30 – 2:30 pm at Wilson Senior High School (3950 Chesapeake St NW) for one of his regular community-based youth-focused events. As with all the others, only youth age 21 and younger are permitted to speak their mind; adults may attend the event. More information is in the flier (Word, .doc).

Community feedback needed on Ward 5 Great Schools Initiative: DC Public Schools seeks public input into this middle school initiative. The link to the survey (see Give Feedback bullet) is on the Ward 5 Great Schools Initiative webpage.

Public hearing on budget for DC Public Schools: The legally-required pre-mayoral release DCPS public hearing on the FY 2013 budget was held November 30. To get things rolling and to share the context in which the budget will be developed, DCPS budget staff presented essential information about the budget development process, focusing on the revenue outlook as projected by the OCFO (read both 9/16/11 links). The presentation (on the DCPS website) also includes a schedule of budget development. The bulk of the event was spent hearing testimony from the public. DCPS reports 13 of the hearing's 25 attendees testified; some testimony is on the Senior High Alliance of Parents, Principals and Educators (S.H.A.P.P.E.) website.

DCPS has a new CFO: Long-time human support services cluster associate CFO Deloras Shepherd has moved to DC Public Schools. She is replacing Interim CFO George B. Dines. Delicia Moore has moved from the Department of Disability Services to become Acting Associate CFO for HSSC, replacing Shepherd.

One City Performance Review and its impact on FY 2013: DCFPI's Elissa Silverman contributed important intelligence to the budget issue with her recent discussion of the One City Performance Reviews. Silverman shared information from government sources that Suzanne Peck, the volunteer managing the reviews, has asked agencies to identify ways to reduce their budget by 10%. The impact on FY 2013? Not known right now.

But more troubling to me than the reductions are the cuts and policy and practice changes suggested by Peck. For example, word is that she has recommended that certain agencies increase their projections for Medicaid and other federal funds. Thus far, agencies and deputy mayors have managed to stave off these ideas. But there are still three months before Mayor Gray releases his FY 2013 budget proposal and a lot can happen in that time.

Today is International Anti-Corruption Day—are you going to take action against ethical lapses of DC elected and appointed officials? The UN Convention Against Corruption has made taking action easy with its action matrix (PDF).

Let's do what the UN Secretary-General has called on each of us to do: "pledge to do our part by cracking down on corruption, shaming those who practice it and engendering a culture that values ethical behaviour."

Thursday, December 8, 2011

December 9 is International Anti-Corruption Day and the UN Secretary-General calls on each of us to "pledge to do our part by cracking down on corruption, shaming those who practice it and engendering a culture that values ethical behaviour." Perhaps you can take a few minutes Friday to take the UN Secretary-General's challenge; the UN has created an easy-to-read and –follow call to action matrix (PDF) for just this purpose.

While the recent problems in DC have been largely framed as ethical violations and lapses, the United Nations Convention against Corruption deems the DC officials' alleged offenses corrupt. The convention's list includes bribery of national public officials; illicit enrichment; trading in influence; and embezzlement, misappropriation, or other diversion of property by a public official.

According to the Transparency International report Corruption Perceptions Index 2011, the United States rates fairly "clean" in the index of 183 countries and territories. The rating of 7.1 (10 is very clean and 0 is highly corrupt) places the United States in 24th place behind the likes of New Zealand, Switzerland, and Germany.

Corruption in the District may pale in comparison to that of other countries, but the fact remains that ethical lapses undermine the authority of elected and appointed officials and detract attention from managing and governing. The DC Council is considering legislation (Bill 19-511, "Board of Ethics and Government Accountability Establishment and Comprehensive Ethics Reform Amendment Act of 2011", final committee report and committee print online) to address the issue of ethics in government.

Notwithstanding DC Council actions to address the problem, some members of the public remain skeptical that the legislation will make the positive difference people believe is needed and want. Chuck Thies, for example, advocates for the expulsion of ethical offenders holding office. Writes Thies, "Ethics reform will not be comprehensive until the D.C. Council creates a mechanism for expelling members who break laws or bring shame on the institution and our city."

What we know about corruption is that it is often hard to identify, time going by—sometimes years—before enough evidence is found. That's why Transparency International uses perceived levels of public sector corruption in their annual report. According to Transparency International,

The 2011 index draws on assessments and opinion surveys carried out by independent and reputable institutions. These surveys and assessments include questions related to the bribery of public officials, kickbacks in public procurement, embezzlement of public funds, and the effectiveness of public sector anti-corruption efforts. Perceptions are used because corruption is to a great extent a hidden activity that is difficult to measure. Over time, perceptions have proved to be a reliable estimate of corruption.

The December 17, 10:30 am - Noon community forum about the history and future of the Skyland is sponsored by the Living Wages, Healthy Communities Coalition and The Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church. Residents and other stakeholders are encouraged to attend to learn and share concerns, thoughts, and priorities for this important development. More information is in this flier (Word, .docx)

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Volunteer at this fun annual event for children and you will ensure they have a fun time shopping for family members. The Santa's Secret Gift Shop at Joseph Cole Recreation Center (1299 Neal St NE ) takes place December 15 from 5:00 - 6:30 pm. The event is for children 12 and under.

This is a great opportunity to donate all those gifts that weren't your style, the knick-knacks you've decided no longer match your decor, and any other unwanted items suitable for re-gifting. Gift wrap and gift boxes are also needed. Deliver donations to the rec center by December 13.

More information is available by calling Zenobia Moton at (202) 442-9262.

Personal note: I've participated in this event and had a terrific time! And, it makes a great office effort. Volunteer and then have your holiday party.

The great news is the December 5, 2011 to February 5, 2012 Check It In: Fine Forgiveness Campaign. The goals of the campaign are to reclaim overdue books and other materials and get library card holders back into the library to participate in the wondrous world of literature!

This is a no questions asked campaign. No matter the condition of the material, no matter how long you've had it, all you have to do it return it. The same goes for lost books and CDs.

The not-so-good news? BooksPlus, the library's gift and used book store, is closing December 30. Sales will not end with the closing, though. There is a link on the DCPL website to the online store.

Common Good City Farm needs outreach volunteers for its Green Tomorrows Program. Green Tomorrows is a gardening and education program providing fresh food to low-income individuals and families in DC. If you are interested in helping low-income folks and improving the local food system, this is the opportunity for you. Email Jeremiah for more information and/or to express your interest.

Tired of the spam on Ward8net, a long-standing Yahoo group? Check out and join DCWard8, a new, spam-free Yahoo group. The new group will feature resident-contributed announcements and more, just as the older one does.

And if you are a resident of Ward 8, or a stakeholder of this great ward, please join and share your comments about what will make a good group moderator. Or, volunteer to moderate the group. I own the group but want a stakeholder to run it.

Monday, December 5, 2011

If not, you should. When you subscribe, you will receive in your inbox each morning the blog posts for the day. On any given day there will be information and/or intelligence about budget and policy issues, other important government news, child- and youth-related nonprofit news, and much more.

Public oversight roundtable on special education: The Committee of the Whole (Council Chairman Kwame Brown, chair) is holding a public roundtable on the issues of special ed transportation and special ed services for preschool children December 12 at 10:00 am. The purpose of the roundtable is to learn the status of the city's efforts to improve transportation to special ed students and respond to the recent federal court ruling that the city failed to provide services to hundreds of preschoolers.

The public is encouraged to testify; details are in the hearing notice (PDF)

Excepted services positions published: DC Law requires excepted services positions be published annually; the 2011 list is here in Word.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

DC State Fair, a relatively new DC nonprofit, provides DC's gardeners, cooks, bakers, photographers, and artists with a way to showcase their talents and residents a way to celebrate these home-grown talents.

DC State Fair needs board members to replace those whose tenures are up. So if you have nonprofit management experience, a community development and engagement background, or just a passion to bring agricultural, culinary, and arts education to the community to develop and encourage neighborly showcasing of talent and competition, then DC State Fair wants you to apply. Email your resume, letter of intent, and one or two supporting documents (if you’d like) by December 9.

Housing and Transportation Affordability in Washington, DC, December 6

Coffee for Kids Open House at Safe Shores, December 8

Food Policy Implementation Research Workshop, December 8

DCAYA meeting with UDC-CC and DOES, December 9

UnSectored Talk, December 13

Committee on Health Staff Meet and Greet, December 16

TANF Information Session, December 17

Will Free Benefit the Rich? How Free and Open Education Might Widen Digital Divides, January 17, 2012

If you've got an event to add, email me the information (text and PDF or JPEG) and link to the information on your website. DCAYA did just this and so their December 9 meeting was added to the calendar. Thanks, DCAYA!

The latest list of free webinars for nonprofits from Wild Apricot presents a wealth of opportunities to learn how to recruit, train, and best utilize volunteers. You will also find webinars related to development. Take a look; even better, take a look and sign up for emails.